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I'm just wondering if anyone out here could give me some advice for rechargeable batteries for the Etrac.  The rechargeable unit contains 8 AA batteries running at 1600ma.  Is there any reason why I can't purchase rechargeable batteries at 2600ma, Obviously these will be charged in a separate charger.

Would using these batteries damage the electrics?

no mate , i use 25oom ones and 1300m ones mixed up

Hi Jon the figures your quoting are not ma "milliamp"  but mAh "milliampere-hour". These are the longevity of charge ratings dependant on drain and so don't actually have any bearing on power. The etrac is also power regulated so no matter how much DC current flows from the battery only the regulated amount is allowed through.

got to say and think you'd agree if you buy one the only way to go now is buy a lithium rechargeable from r&b as sold by detectorbits for £99 quid.
i bought one a while back charged it in less than 2 hours and ive used it 6 times since and still showing full charge.
they reckon in explorer type machines it'll give 35 to 40 hours its a must have as far as im concerned.
thats the one reason i never used to be interested in detecting if anything was ever gonna put me off,rubbish rechargeables id charge for 18 hours and then they'd be flat in a couple of hours.
and you have to go through that every time you go out bugger that.
no memory effect with em,cold dosnt kill them off either and you could charge em up leave em for a year then use them and they'll be as fresh as a daisy.
its a no brainer.

You can get the same but shorter use time with Eneloop and they dont cost £99 quid. :o

Val

Well standard Nihm don't have a memory either ??? As for " id charge for 18 hours and then they'd be flat in a couple of hours" Well you must have bought some really rubbish batteries lol. Mine last a good 10 hours which is longer than a days hunt and I always recharge them, luckily in this part of the world we have mains electric so recharging isn't a problem ;D
I believe that the r&b batts are going up to £120 but even at £99, come on lets get real...it's a battery, a car battery won't cost you that much, the cost of a minelab battery is a total rip off and this after market battery is just profiteering gone mad.
£120? it certainly is a no brainer ::)

yeah we have electric here too,but yours is obviously better quality.
i  bought 2 sets of 8 3000m ah batteries and the were absolute rubbish and the cold killed them stone dead after about 2 hours.
lithium dosnt suffer in the cold like normal rechargeables do ive go them in 2 power drills and a multi tool and theyre faultless.
both my drills are 20 years old and still work perfect.
this rnb battery will last as long if not longer...you will have bought 10 sets of normal batteries or more in that time.
as for the other batteries mentioned i dont know i havnt used them.

I'm preaching again I know but realy Eneloop re-chargables are great. No memory probs. last about 10 hours working and with a decent charger they charge up in a few hours. I stopped using my 'proper' Safari battery as it didn't seem to last long and bought an AA pod complete with Eneloop batteries and the whole thing only cost circa.£35.
Do youself a favour,   try it out.

Val

if i hadnt bought the rnb battery val and would have known about em i may have but im well pleased with the lithium battery.
you would never believe the grief ive had with rechargeables and what a waste of money.
ive been out all week this week 5 days on the trot and my battery bar is still full its superb and as i said this battery will outlive the detector.
my explorer used to gulp power and the beauty of these is they are 12.5 volt minelabs own is 9.5 when fully charged.
these run out of power at a higher voltage than the normal batteries.
people might think theyre a false economy at 100 quid but i think its the bes 100 quid ive  ever spent.

Didn't realise you'd already bought one. Just a word of warning on Lithiums. They are a fire hazard if damaged.
Hubby uses them on his model aircraft and has seen a couple burst into flames in mid air because the plane has been crashed and repaired then used with the same battery.
When disposing of them it is advised you soak them in salt water for several days before disposing of them in the usual manner. Whatever that is. ::)

Val

lol it'll be going back for a full refund and a new metal detector if it bursts into flames.

Only dangerous if they're damaged tia.   ;)

Val

Regarding putting the eneloops in the aa battery pack, this is what I've done. I also modified it to add a socket (like on the standard battery) so I can charge them using the standard minelab charger without needing to remove the aa cells each time.

Works really well and didn't cost a hundred quid  ;)

pretty much the same as anything else then?all batteries are explosive is mistreated.
then again so is a can of dog food in the oven its all common sense really isnt it.

I must confess to using eneloop and they outdid my other nimhs. did two 9 hr days and still had over 1/4 left.
They do a real good job but you need the proper charger to benefit best from this brand.
Energisers seem to have charging problems and some die after only 10 charges.
Lidl ones seem to last too. Not quite as good as eneloop but them tronic ones are very cheap so could buy 4 sets for the price.

i still use 2500 and 2900 mixed up,they last 8 to 10 hrs depending if im out at night and useing the backlight on my etrac a lot.replace these for new ones every 6 months

I've been using Energizer NiMH 2000mH batteries in the E-Trac charged in
an Energizer quick charger and have had no problems for a year now.
Last all day. 8)

i should add that im detecting 5 times a week lol

In a week or so I will be fitting a set of li-po batterys to a soverign, they do need a special charger but have seen ones that run off 12v so when ever detector is in car it could be charging. Capacity available from 1000mA - 5000mA but they have a few differences size is one.  Voltage of each cell is 3.7V so you can use 3 to give 11.1V

BUT THEY CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS IF USED INCORRECTLY

my last sovereign xs2 was fitted with cctv camera battery ,good conversion by wizards son on here